FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT AIR POLLUTION - PAGE 2

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women exposed to even low levels of urban air pollution during pregnancy may be at heightened risk of having a low-birthweight baby, according to a review of evidence from Europe. Based on data for more than 74,000 women in 12 European countries over a 15-year period, researchers say that if pollution levels were lowered to limits set by the World Health Organization (WHO), 22 percent of cases of low birthweight would be avoided. "This is similar to the number of cases that would be prevented by cessation of maternal smoking during pregnancy in this European population," said lead author Dr. Marie Pedersen from the Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology in Barcelona, Spain.

BEIJING (Reuters) - New plans to reduce air pollution in Beijing fell flat on Tuesday, judging by initial online reaction, as the capital's mayor unveiled measures to ease the chronic problem that has triggered growing public anger. The smoggy metropolis' already notorious air pollution hit a record earlier this month, with pollution 30-45 times above recommended safety levels, blanketing Beijing in a thick, noxious cloud that grounded flights and forced people indoors. The issue has caused widespread public outrage, alarming the ruling Communist Party which values stability above all else, and has so far failed to rein in pollution despite repeated pledges to get tough.

BEIJING, June 5 (Reuters) - A senior Chinese official demanded on Tuesday that foreign embassies stop issuing air pollution readings, saying it was against the law and diplomatic conventions, in pointed criticism of a closely watched U.S. embassy index. The level of air pollution in China's heaving capital varies, depending on the wind, but a cocktail of smokestack emissions, vehicle exhaust, dust and aerosols often blankets the city in a pungent, beige shroud for days on end. Many residents dismiss the common official readings of "slight" pollution in Beijing as grossly under-stated.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing is to unveil unprecedented new rules governing how China's capital reacts to hazardous air pollution, the official Xinhua news agency said, as deteriorating air quality threatens to become a rallying point for wider political dissatisfaction. The rules will formalize previous ad-hoc measures, including shutting down factories, cutting back on burning coal and taking certain vehicle classes off the roads on days when pollution hits unacceptable levels. Air quality in Beijing, on many days degrees of magnitude below minimum international health standards for breathability, is of increasing concern to China's leadership because it plays into popular resentment over political privilege and rising inequality in the world's second-largest economy.

(Refiles July 30 story to fix name in fourth-last paragraph) By Ben Blanchard BEIJING, July 30 (Reuters) - With its parks, centuries-old palaces, history and culture, Beijing should be one of the more pleasant capitals of the world. Instead, it's considered among the worst to live in because of chronic air pollution. Lung cancer rates are rising among the 20 million residents of China's capital, health officials say. For many multinational companies, Beijing is considered a hardship posting and, despite the extra allowances that classification brings, some executives are leaving.

LIMA, July 11 (Reuters) - Peru is temporarily exempting three of its most polluted cities from stronger air quality standards after two major metals processors said the tighter limits were unworkable, with one of them threatening to shut down the country's main copper refinery. The environment ministry told Reuters on Thursday that it would not apply 2014 limits on sulfur dioxide emissions in the coastal city Ilo - home to the Southern Copper refinery, the country' biggest - or in the highland town La Oroya, where Doe Run Peru has a poly-metallic smelter.

In a move that promises cleaner air throughout the Chicago area, BP on Wednesday agreed to spend more than $400 million to settle legal complaints about chronic pollution problems at the oil company's sprawling refinery in northwest Indiana. Steps that BP committed to take at its Whiting refinery, the nation's sixth-largest, will significantly reduce emissions of lung-damaging soot and other noxious air pollution. The deal also sets a precedent for other oil companies as the industry overhauls refineries nationwide.

DENVER (Reuters) - Colorado health and environment officials on Sunday approved new rules to limit air pollution from oil and gas drilling in the state, including what regulators said is the nation's first-ever plan to detect and reduce methane emissions. The new measures were adopted to reduce the release of methane during production and transport of natural gas, in a deal first proposed last fall with energy producers Anadarko Petroleum, Noble Energy, Encana Corp and the Environmental Defense Fund.